


Rose-colored Lies

by ChetRoi



Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, M/M, idk if this counts as angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:06:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23958913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChetRoi/pseuds/ChetRoi
Summary: Itaru sometimes wonders if Chikage was lying about their relationship. Itaru knows that he shouldn’t be the one to talk when it comes to lying, but like he doesn’t lie about his relationships. Well, scratch that, he lies about his relationships all the time to get unwanted attention from his colleagues off of him, but...yeah, okay. There was no but to this. Still, it was a valid thing to wonder, from one liar to another. Itaru thinks they’re dating, but really who knows what Chikage “Unromantic” Utsuki was thinking behind those anime villain glasses. Well, Itaru supposes that this went on the list of Top 10 questions scientists couldn’t answer.
Relationships: Chigasaki Itaru/Utsuki Chikage
Comments: 6
Kudos: 52





	Rose-colored Lies

**Author's Note:**

> i'm gonna post it rn so i'm sorry for the mistakes, but ty to my cousin for the name. Also ty to Lucy and Lunita for reading it. i was just inspired in life... and then i went into a writing trance and had to get this out

Itaru sometimes wonders if Chikage was lying about their relationship. Itaru knows that he shouldn’t be the one to talk when it comes to lying, but like he doesn’t lie about his relationships. Well, scratch that, he lies about his relationships all the time to get unwanted attention from his colleagues off of him, but...yeah, okay. There was no but to this. Still, it was a valid thing to wonder, from one liar to another. Itaru thinks they’re dating, but really who knows what Chikage “Unromantic” Utsuki was thinking behind those anime villain glasses. Well, Itaru supposes that this went on the list of Top 10 questions scientists couldn’t answer. 

Chikage often wonders why Itaru even bothered dating him, he was probably the most suspicious person in Mankai, and that was saying a lot considering they have an ex-yakuza member, literal royalty, and whatever Guy was. Chikage supposes that maybe Itaru dated him because he was desperate, but then he remembers that there was some sort of list circulating around the office on the order for who gets to ask out Itaru. Then he remembered the fact that Itaru said and he quote “The only women in my heart are made out of pixels”, so there’s that. Eh, Chikage didn’t mind, as long as Itaru liked him even a tiny bit back, that was more than enough for Chikage. 

Well, Itaru liked Chikage back a lot more than just “a tiny bit”. He liked him back a lot, like more than Itaru himself was willing to admit out loud. However, Itaru was always unsure about whether Chikage even liked him back at all. Itaru wasn’t good with feelings in the first place, so he didn’t even know how to approach the topic without it being insanely cringy and cheesy, which he didn’t want, but he did often wonder. Chikage wasn’t the type to voice out his true feelings, in fact Itaru often watched him voice out his fake feelings to whatever poor soul decided to confess that day. With the usual charming smile and often flirtatious remarks that Itaru knew were fake, Chikage often got some person’s hopes up and then crushed it within a few minutes with some grandiose lie about having a fiance in another country or something wild like that. Maybe his and Chikage’s relationship was just that, another grandiose lie that both of them were participants in, but Itaru would rather not think about that. 

Grandiose lies were Chikage’s forte, after all it came with the job. However, Chikage didn’t believe that his and Itaru’s relationship was a lie. Still, Chikage couldn’t help but feel that their relationship sometimes felt like a game to Itaru. He often heard his boyfriend muttering something about flags being triggered and about walkthroughs, which was common enough, but he didn’t know how to feel about it. Sure, it’s not uncommon to hear Itaru say things about that, but when it’s said during their dates or during their moments of intimacy, it was a bit unnerving. Chikage had never been in a relationship before, so he didn’t know what to expect or how to behave or any of that jazz. Still, it was in Chikage’s belief that relationships weren’t games, and all the gaming lingo made him believe that Itaru treated it like a game. Eh, maybe it just came with the hours of gaming that Itaru had put in, but something pricked in the back of his head. He was probably just being paranoid like usual. 

Well, Itaru didn’t know how to tackle relationships, so he decided to turn it into a game so that he could understand it more. He knows that relationships were a lot more complex and varied than any game out there, but if he could break it into easily processable pieces, maybe he could finally understand it more. He really did want the relationship to last, and in order for something to last, Itaru has to actually understand it. Itaru supposes that he understands relationships a bit more after all the videos he has watched, the manga he read (Muku really was the MVP), the wikihow articles that he scanned, the romance animes that he consumed (God, why were there so little animes about adults and romance? He desperately needed that shit), and of course all the dating sims that he bought. Still, all of those things had something that he didn’t have the luxury of irl, they had characters where he understood their behavior and actions. He had no clue where to even begin with Chikage, even if he pretended he did. Oh well, fake it till you make it right?

Chikage noticed that Itaru was paying a lot more attention to him, which he definitely wasn’t used to. His job didn’t allow him to get close to anyone, so his spy instincts were on high alert. Still, he tried to relax. Itaru won’t hurt him, right? God, how could he even suspect Itaru of hurting him? That man couldn’t throw a punch to save his life, Chikage was safe. Still, the looks in Itaru’s eyes caused him to be on high alert. It was boring through him, like Itaru was trying to figure out his weakness, his past, his everything. Chikage knew he could trust Itaru, but his brain refused to cooperate. It especially didn’t help that Chikage knew that Itaru was a lot more observant than he let on. Chikage tried to relax, tried to convince himself that Itaru didn’t mean any harm, but his brain kept on repeating the fact that Itaru looked like some gamemaster, ready to manipulate and play Chikage into whatever it is that he was planning. 

God, why was Chikage acting so weirdly? He was getting harder and harder to read, which was bad. Itaru thought that they finally were getting more comfortable around each other. Still, that won’t deter him, this was just a game with a challenge, and if there was anything that Itaru was good at, it was playing games with challenges embedded within them. Itaru will get the good end on this route, no matter what. Itaru figures that he was on track whenever he ends up cuddling in bed with Chikage after a session of sex, but was he really sure? No. Maybe their relationship was nothing but to fill the void of loneliness that Itaru knew that they both had, but Itaru thinks of it as actual affection. Still, it’s not like Chikage ever indicated anything to support his thoughts, so there he was, his face in Chikage’s bare chest as he wondered if any of this was real. It was real, right? He sure hopes so. 

Chikage would never admit it out loud, but he actually really liked physical affection. He didn’t get much as a child or a teen or hell, even as a young adult, so he was currently touch-starved. That’s why his favorite moments with Itaru were them just cuddling after sex, no words spoken, just them lying there. That’s not to say that he didn’t enjoy the sex, he did, but there was something just special about cuddling. It was one of the only times his tumultuous brain relaxed and he could be himself. He thinks that Itaru enjoyed the cuddle sessions too, but Itaru was frustratingly hard to read, even for an experienced spy like Chikage. Chikage feels that Itaru enjoys it as well, but what are feelings but facts that are void of proof? Maybe he should ask… Chikage looked at Itaru, who seemed to be in thought as he buried his face in Chikage’s chest. Nah, Chikage didn’t want to risk asking and end up ruining the moment. So, Chikage just sucked it up and buried his face in Itaru’s soft hair. 

Itaru figured that Chikage really was touch-starved because well, Itaru felt the most connected to Chikage when they were cuddling or hugging or even through the slightest of touches. Itaru didn’t know anything about Chikage, which was fine because everyone hides something and it really wasn’t any of his concern. After all, he hated it when people stuck their nose in his business. Still, he wanted to know more about Chikage. He wanted to know what made him turn into some cheat character because no one turns into a cheat character unless they were born lucky or they were forced to due to their circumstances. Itaru wanted to know why Chikage was so unromantic and why he clearly wanted things but yet didn't ask for it. Itaru wanted to know how to make Chikage feel better, how to show him that Itaru cared. Maybe Itaru should suck it up and ask, no matter how much of a loser that he seemed like. Wait, that’s delving way too deep, Itaru has to start with something basic and trivial first. Favorite color, animals, the usual. Itaru supposes that it might be kinda weird to ask, but he decided against that thought. It’s not weird to want to know more about your boyfriend, is it?

Chikage didn’t know why Itaru was asking him so many questions. Putting aside the fact that no one had ever bothered to ask Chikage these questions, Chikage never took Itaru as one to ask personal questions. Hell, Chikage never took Itaru for someone to even care. “So Senpai, what’s your favorite color?” Itaru asked as Chikage looked at him strangely. Favorite color? Was this some sort of speed dating questionnaire? Why did Itaru even want to know this?

“Well, I suppose sky blue is a nice color.” Chikage answered as Itaru nodded and typed something on his phone. Was Itaru noting all of this? What was he planning? Was he planning to use this information against Chikage? How could Itaru even use this against him?  _ “He still thinks this relationship is a game, that’s why he’s asking. Those games of his do have him memorizing basic information like these on a wide array of love interests. It’s either that or he’s planning to build up to more personal questions that he could definitely use against you.“  _ Chikage’s brain unhelpfully supplied as Chikage swatted it away. Itaru wouldn’t do something like that. 

“I see. I see. Well, I would ask you what your favorite animal is, but I know that it’s a rabbit, so GG. Well… what was your childhood like? I’ve told you about my shitty childhood, and after that, I’ve always wondered about yours.” Itaru said as Chikage froze.

_ “Told you so.”  _ Chikage’s brain seemed to sing as Chikage twisted August’s ring around. “Well… my childhood wasn’t much to write home about, but why are you asking? I don’t ever recall my uncute junior caring this much about me.” Chikage said a lot harsher than how it sounded in his brain. Itaru lowered his eyes. 

“Well, you know. Since we started dating, I’ve just been curious about you. You seem to know almost everything about me, but I know next to nothing about you. This route is impossible to play if I don’t at least know some things about you, y’know?” Itaru replied.

_ “Wow, so it’s back to the game thing. Does he even care about your feelings or is this just another game that he plans to play and drop? Are you just another player in his game?”  _ Chikage’s brain huffed as Chikage forcefully shoved it away. Itaru cares for him, Chikage just knows it. Well, he doesn’t know for sure, but he sure hopes so at least. “Well, my childhood was just boring. Nothing too exciting happened, so there’s really nothing to tell.” Chikage lied as Itaru gave him a long look before dropping it. The rest of their dinner date seemed to be normal, but Chikage could feel that the mood and tone of everything shifted. Even when they went home to cuddle, Chikage could feel Itaru analyzing his answer. This couldn’t possibly be a game to him, right?

Itaru knew that Chikage lied to him about his childhood, but he probably had a reason to do so. Still, Itaru’s paranoid ass decided to chalk it up to the fact that Chikage was hiding something from him. Was Chikage hiding some sort of childhood love that he’s not over? Was that why he was avoiding the topic so much? What if his and Itaru’s relationship was them filling in the gap for each other? In the end, they were two liars who really had no one else but themselves. Wait, itaru couldn’t say that, that would do Mankai dirty, and he may be a liar, but he had to give credit where credit was due. Let him rephrase it, they were two liars who ended up together, but they’re still wary of each other. Itaru couldn’t help but admit that he was still wary of Chikage, which was pretty bad considering that Chikage was his boyfriend. Well, he considers Chikage as his boyfriend, but what Chikage thought of Itaru was still a mystery to Itaru. Maybe Chikage was just using him to fill the gaps of his lonely life. Oh well, even if that was the truth, Itaru will still get Chikage’s good ending, even if the start was a bit rocky. 

Chikage really liked Itaru, which he thought would be impossible just a few years ago. Old Chikage would laugh at how soft current Chikage was, but he supposes that love does that to a person. Chikage didn’t know what love really felt like, so he shouldn’t say that, but he supposes that the closest that he has felt to romantic love was how he felt towards Itaru. Still, did Itaru love him back? Chikage thinks so as Itaru seems to enjoy his company and his embrace. Itaru always looks so happy to be with him, yet Chikage has seen Itaru fake being happy with people to please them. Itaru had always been a people-pleaser, and maybe this was no different. Chikage has accepted that Itaru does indeed care about him, but Chikage’s still not sure about what Itaru thinks of their current relationship. Both of their love languages were actions or gifts, so words were often scarce between them. Still, Chikage was uncomfortably aware of how often Itaru often fakes his actions, seeing how often he fake smiles or fake laughs at his superiors. Chikage often sees Itaru wink at the women in their company, at what he calls them lovely. Itaru’s whole thing was pretending to be something he was not. Maybe… he was pretending in their relationship too. Maybe all of this was just to fill in the void of his lonely childhood. 

Maybe Chikage was just used to fill in the cracks of Itaru’s fractured view of the world by providing him with what other high schoolers had that he didn’t, a relationship. 

Thanks to Mankai, Itaru’s distrust towards the world had decreased to just simply not liking to expose himself. However, Chikage was different. Chikage didn’t teach about love or anything cheesy like that (Animes and games taught him that), but he did teach Itaru something important: Itaru was capable of actually keeping a meaningful relationship. When he was younger, Itaru always imagined that he would just date someone as a test trial, and then use that experience to actually date someone that he liked. His wariness of the world and its occupants really made him think like that, but Chikage changed that. Itaru was still wary of Chikage, don’t get him wrong, but Itaru was disgustingly soft for Chikage. He supposes that his test trial will be the real deal, at least that’s what he tells himself. Still, as he reflected on his past self, he wonders if the deepest part of himself still considers this some sort of game, some sort of test. His old self, the cautious, bitter, estranged Itaru, was still inside of him, wasn’t he? Itaru was always good at hiding what he was truly feeling, even to the point where he actually believed his own lies. Itaru acted like his true self in front of Chikage, the otaku gamer, but he felt inadequate whenever he did so. His always perfect Senpai deserved someone mature and refined, not some man-child obsessed with pixels. Still, that’s not being true to himself, and he promised himself that in an actual relationship where he actually liked the person, he would be himself. Still, Itaru was a liar, and he constantly lied to everyone, including himself, how was this different? 

Chikage noticed that Itaru seemed to be deep in thought recently. As his boyfriend and senpai, he should at least ask, so that’s what he did. “Hey Chigasaki, you’ve been thinking a lot more than I thought was possible. What’s the matter?” Chikage asked casually. Itaru looked at him in a split moment of surprise before giving him a totally fake smile. Chikage felt almost insulted that Itaru believed that Chikage would fall for it.

“Oh, don’t worry about it Senpai, it’s just something stupid. I’ll get over it.” Itaru answered as he turned on his phone to mindlessly check on his BP that Chikage knew wasn’t full yet. 

“Well, as your Senpai, I don’t want to see my favorite junior looking as down as you currently do, so... What’s the matter?” Chikage said as Itaru continued to stare at his screen. 

“Well… I know it’s stupid and that I’m paranoid and stupid myself, but like… our relationship is real right? We’re both each other boyfriends and we both care about each other, right?” Itaru blurted out, a lot more honest and raw than the sugar-coated answer that Chikage expected. Chikage blinked. 

“Yeah, I would hope so. I can’t speak for you, but I’m quite fond of you… I think. To be quite honest, this is completely new territory for me, so I don’t know how to really work this feeling and romance thing. However, I do know that I care for you, I’m just trying to figure it out.” Chikage replied back slowly as his thoughts went a mile a minute. 

Itaru didn’t look comforted by that statement as he bit his lip. “GG, that was very convincing Senpai. 10/10 best display of emotion.” Itaru replied sarcastically. Chikage guessed that he deserved that response.

“Well… what about you? How do you feel? Maybe you can help me figure out my feelings.” Chikage said. Itaru pursed his lips and looked away.

“I’m new to this too, y’know. I know that I like you, I really really like you. I’m just trying to see if I like you because you were the first person to actually like me for me or if I like you because I want to see what it’s like to be in a relationship with someone.” Itaru admitted as Chikage’s brain went into overtime to figure out this whole situation. Itaru must’ve noticed Chikage’s panic as he hurriedly added “I’m pretty sure it’s the first thing, but I’ve just been lying to myself and others for so long that I need to make sure. You deserve the real me and my real emotions, especially considering you probably have some sort of tragic backstory that caused you to not trust people like me. You deserve better cards than you were dealt with...Chikage-san.” 

Chikage felt something warm in his chest, warm and foreign. God, it made him want to melt into a puddle of goo. Disgusting. Itaru was being shockingly honest, and it was good to see that Itaru’s weird behavior was just him trying to be the best he could for Chikage. If Chikage was being quite honest, he didn’t deserve Itaru. “I see. Well, take your time.” Chikage said. Itaru gave him an incredulous look before snorting.

“You really are unromantic Chikage-san.” 

After that whole situation, Chikage excused himself and went to his hideout. He needed some space to really process his emotions, which of course led him to thinking about the whole exchange. Itaru admitted his faults. He bore himself to Chikage. Yet, all Chikage could do was say take your time. God, was Chikage even ready for a relationship? Did Chikage even feel that way back? Could Chikage even feel that way back? Chikage thought that he was capable of love, or at least romantic attraction. Chikage always found Itaru attractive, and only recently did he feel these warm sensations that he assumed was affection, or even possibly love. Still, were these really his own feelings? Or was that what he forced himself to feel to be normal? To be well… not him. Chikage’s been lying to himself about his feelings for as long as he remembered. For as long as he cried to the moon. What if this was just him pretending that he could possibly be human? Chikage wanted to believe that he could be human. That he could feel normal emotions. That he could love people and be loved by people. Still, what if he was just being idealistic? Ah shit, Chikage couldn’t process emotions normally in the first place, what made him think that he could handle a relationship? Still, he owed it to Itaru to get his shit together because if Itaru was that serious about their relationship, who was Chikage to not repay him back in full?

Itaru knew that being honest didn’t do anything good. He should’ve just lied to Chikage about how he was just thinking about rankings and how much of bitch that would be and about all the possible strategies he could employ to beat Banri’s ass in the rankings. Then they would probably cuddle or kiss or have sex or whatever, and everything would return to normal. Instead, Chikage left for who knows where and returned a seemingly different person. He was a lot colder, and Itaru was pretty sure that it was his fault that Chikage was like this. Okay. Okay. Time to get a game plan together to hopefully save this run because there’s no way to restart a route unless they break up and get back together, which Itaru doubts would happen because he was pretty sure that the moment they broke up, Chikage would run away for an amount of time while Itaru would pretend that everything was good when it really wasn’t and he was secretly dying inside. Then, Chikage would return, and they would go back to just being coworkers and troupemates and roommates, maybe friends. God, Itaru didn’t want to deal with that shit. Okay, Itaru had no idea what to do, so when in doubt, just revert back to what they were normally, two snarky liars who were sometimes soft with each other in private. Don’t fix what’s not broken, right?

Chikage still hasn’t completely figured out his emotions, but he was quite sure that he liked Itaru romantically. That wasn’t one of his lies that he tricked himself into believing, this was genuine, which was a weird thing for him to say considering that most of his life was spent with him being disingenuous. Well, now he just needed to figure out just how much he liked Itaru. He had no other threshold to compare his romantic feelings to, so that was great. Itaru also started acting like that whole scene never happened, which was also great. Should Chikage just write that whole thing off? No, that’s stupid, he didn’t spend a whole night trying to figure out his emotions while staring at the moon for nothing. Plus, that was one of the most genuine moments that he had ever seen from Itaru. The usual calm, collected, almost nonchalant Itaru was replaced with a hesitant, honest Itaru that seemed scared of being burned again. Knowing Itaru, the man was probably just going to pretend that the whole thing didn’t happen because Chikage ran away like a bitch and he thought he did something wrong. It was Chikage’s fault that Itaru was probably trying to go back to what they were before. Chikage needed to let him know that it was okay, that he understood what Itaru was trying to accomplish. 

Itaru wasn’t scared of much, but that. That scared him. The bad end flags blared all throughout his brain when Chikage said “We need to talk.” What the fuck did they needed to talk about? Their whole relationship was kinda built on not talking and just sorta trusting each other. Still, Itaru must remain cool and collected. He must not let this get to him. Maybe, it’s just a normal talk about work. Sure, let’s go with that. 

“What’s up Senpai? What’cha wanna talk about?” Itaru replied casually as he patted the empty space next to him on the couch. “I know you’re some cheat character who probably doesn’t get tired, but sit.” Chikage surprisingly listened to him as he sat down and Itaru’s bad end feeling increased tenfold. 

“So, I wanted to talk to you about our relationship. About my feelings. About your feelings.” Chikage said uncharacteristically full of emotions. Ah fuck. Was Itaru about to get the “It’s not you, it’s me” speech that he always read and saw? Well, if that made Chikage happier, who was Itaru to stop him?

“I see. Go ahead, I’m ready. I’m a big boy, I can handle whatever you throw at me.” Itaru replied. So, that was a lie, but it’s okay. He’ll get over it.

Chikage took a deep breath before continuing. “So, you know how we’ve been in a relationship for awhile. I believed that it was going well, but really it wasn’t.” Ah fuck, nevermind. Abort. Abort. Itaru can’t handle this.

“I see. Why wasn’t it going well? You know, so I can improve in the future.” Itaru said as he racked his head for possible responses. Too much gaming? Not enough affection? Bad sex? Bad kissing? 

“Well, it’s because I have trust issues and I couldn’t help but think that you approached this relationship as some sort of game. A game that you’ll play until you get bored and discard it like what you usually do. However, after that confession about you figuring out your feelings, it made me go back on my own feelings.” Chikage continued. Ah yes. The bad end was nigh. Fuck. Itaru swears he’s going to be okay. He’s just gonna cope by burying himself in games. Everything was fine. 

“What were those feelings more than Senpai? Can’t just keep me on a cliffhanger like that.” Itaru joked because joking about his problems was how he dealt with it.

Chikage gave him a withering stare. “I’m trying my best to verbalize this Chigasaki. I’m not used to this, give me time.” Itaru could feel the affection level going down. “Anyways… I’m really not sure if I love you or not.” Itaru couldn’t help but flinch at those words. Fuck. He really wasn’t ready for this. However, before Itaru could say anything else, Chikage finished the thought. “I’m sure I’m not qualified to really talk about love or anything, so I won’t say something that I don’t mean. However, do know that I’m very fond of you. Like ridiculously fond. It really is embarrassing to me about how fond I am of you sometimes. I don’t know if that’s love, but it’s definitely something. When you said that you wanted your true self and not your liar self in this relationship, I thought that you deserved the same courtesy from me. So.” 

“Oh.” was all Itaru could muster. Wow, so it wasn’t a bad end. Well, this was awkward. God, quick time events like these suck.

“All you can say is oh? What does that even mean?” Chikage asked as he twirled his ring around his finger.

“Sorry, I was just trying to think of the next best move so that I won’t fuck up this event.” Itaru said, the only thing that wanted to come to his brain at that moment was the computer error noise. “Okay. So, to address your concerns, I was treating this like a game, but not in the way you were thinking of. This is a game that I wanted to get the good end for, and scarily there is no walkthrough for this, so your game thing was sorta right. I’m definitely not going to ditch you though, there’s no other opportunities for me to date a cheat character, and the fact that I am doing so already is a SSR event. And as long as we’re being honest, I thought you were just faking your feelings in this relationship, like you fake everything else. I never quite know where I stand with you, so… my paranoid ass thought that you might just be lying to me out of pity or to fill in the void for your loneliness or something. Turns out you just don’t know how to properly deal with emotions, which tbh is a mood.” 

Chikage shrugged. “That’s understandable, I also wondered if I was lying to myself too if I’m being quite honest right now.” 

Itaru raised an eyebrow. “Well, are you?”

“I’m not 100% sure, but it’s around a 95% chance.” 

“I’ll take those chances then.” 

“Thank you.” 

The two of them had no idea where else to go from there so there was just a long awkward pause. Itaru wanted to say something, but what? “Well, glad to see that we were just going through the same problems. Couples that uh feel the exact same problems due to them both being chronic liars, stay together?” Itaru hestantly said.  _ “Ah shit, that’s so stupid. Why would you say something like that?”  _ Itaru’s brain said right after he said it. 

Chikage snorted and flicked Itaru’s forehead gently. “That’s not how that goes, but alright. Glad to see that you’re still my uncute junior.” Itaru felt a sense of glee fill him. Ah yes. He’s Chikage’s uncute junior, no else gets that role. 

“Yep, I’ll be your uncute junior until you get sick of me. Or until I disappear. Or until I die due to some unknown or known reason.” Chikage frowned as he reached out to wrap his hands around Itaru’s waist. Finally, some good fucking food. “Don’t worry, you’ll always be my unromantic Senpai.” Itaru reassured Chikage as Itaru leaned in for a kiss. Chikage returned the kiss before pulling away. 

“I hope you know that I don’t want any discussion about emotions for another half year, this was exhausting as it was.” Chikage said as he went back to the kiss. 

“You and I both. So, let’s go back to our original self but with the added knowledge that we’re both still figuring shit out for one another.” Itaru said in between kisses. Chikage just hummed in agreement.

Were Chikage and Itaru still both liars in the end? Yeah, but they’re two liars who’re currently in a relationship that they have both deemed as not a lie. That had to account for something right? Maybe, they weren’t in love and they didn’t have the storybook relationship that others had, but that’s okay. It’s not like they minded. Things were better for them without the rose-colored glasses on after all. 

**Author's Note:**

> scream with me about chikaita and a3 on twitter @gachakitakore


End file.
